The top-tier phablets for this year are the iPhone 7 Plus and the Galaxy Note 7. Photo: YouTube/Tech of Tomorrow/Android Authority

Now that Apple has officially unveiled its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, many are curious as to how the Cupertino giant's new phablet holds up when it is pitted against the Galaxy Note 7. Despite getting recalled late last week, Samsung's new iteration for its successful Note series is still one powerhouse to beat. But with Apple claiming that the new iPhones are the best and most advanced smartphones to date, it would indeed be interesting to know if the iPhone 7 Plus' specs and features are enough to trump those of Samsung's handset. So without further ado, here's a comparison review of the iPhone 7 Plus and the Galaxy Note 7.

Performance

From the get-go Samsung's Note 7 was expected to deliver in terms of performance. And true enough, the South Korea brand did not fail in meeting the expectations of consumers. Powered by a Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 chipset and an Adreno 530 GPU, Galaxy Note 7’s performance is impressive it scored high figures in the different benchmarks conducted by GSM Arena. Compared to its predecessor, the Note 7 did an remarkable job with its scores, but the tech site has learned that it is not that impressive when its scores are compared to the ratings of the OnePlus 3 or the Moto Z Droid — the latter device reportedly reigned supreme in the AnTuTu 6 benchmark with a rating of 151619. The Note 7 trails not too far behind with its 134660 next to OnePlus 3's 141764, and this is just for the Exynos variant. Android Central reports after testing both the Exynos and the Snapdragon versions of the Note 7 that the latter scored high in the AnTuTu 6 benchmark and in the GFXBench test on long-term performance.

Since the new iPhones have just been launched, there is no way of verifying yet if its new A10 Fusion chip exceeds expectations and does a great job in benchmarks. But based on the previously leaked GeekBench results, the iPhone 7 scored high in multi-core tests, with the rating close to being more than half the score of its predecessor, the iPhone 6s, as per BGR. Since the iPhone 7 Plus sports the same processor as the standard iPhone 7, it won’t be surprising if its GeekBench performance would not be too different from the iPhone 7’s score. What Apple is banking on at the moment is its claim that its handsets' new 64-bit four-core CPU is 40 times faster and 50 times more efficient than the A9 chip the previous generation iPhones came with.

Display

The display of the two handsets are very different. While the Galaxy Note 7’s screen is a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 1440x2560 screen resolution and packs in 515 pixels per inch, the display of the iPhone 7 Plus is a 5.5-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen with 1080x1920 screen resolution and 401 pixels per inch. For protection, the Note 7’s Always-on display has Corning Gorilla Glass 5. On the other hand, the iPhone 7 Plus has been treated with Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating for protection. What makes the 7 Plus’ display extra-special is its 3D Touch feature that shows users different options depending on the pressure they put when touching the screen. Apple also announced during its Special Event early today that the display of its new iPhones are 25 percent brighter and offers a viewing experiance comparable to the standard in cinematic viewing.

Camera Technology

When it comes to this department, it is impossible not to notice how Apple has — for quite some time now — been delivering impressive phone cameras for its iPhones. This year's cameras could take this recognition a notch higher since they are major upgrades compared to their predecessors' snappers. The iPhone 7 comes with a 12-megapixel back camera that's designed with an image signal processor and a new chip that work hand-in-hand in quickly focusing, balancing tones and reducing noise in every photo taken in just 25 milliseconds. The iPhone 7 Plus' camera does the same job, but it's even more powerful and impressive due to the addition of a secondary lens. The dual-lens system has 12-megapixel, high speed sensors that make every photo a frame that's up to par with DSLR-captured images. The 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera up front also adds weight on how the new iPhones could be regarded as the smartphones to house the best cameras this year.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7's primary camera also comes with a 12-megapixel sensor and has various features like touch focus, face and smile detection, simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image recording, Auto HDR and geo-tagging, among others. Unfortunately, it seems that the Note 7’s primary camera is not as impressive as Samsung claims it to be. Android Authority did a comparison review with LG V20’s camera, and the latter proved to be more reliable in producing sharper and more detailed images. Up front, the Note 7 comes with a 5-megapixel selfie camera that's not even close to the iPhone 7 Plus' front-facing shooter in terms of performance on paper.

Miscellaneous

There are certain features that make the Note 7 stand out over the iPhone 7 Plus and vice-versa. Samsung’s phablet is IP68 certified, making it waterproof up to about 1.5 meters deep of water for no more than 30 minutes. The certification also means that the device is dust-proof. The Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-running handset also comes with an iris scanner and an improved S-Pen that brings with it new functionalities. It has a v3.1 USB Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, fast charging 3,500 mAh battery that supports wireless charging, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), and the device comes in three color variants: Blue Coral, Silver Titanium and Black Onyx.

In contrast, Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus has a 3D Touch Home button, an IPX7 certified body that is capable of resisting water up to 1 meter and no longer than 30 minutes of exposure. The phablet runs on the new Apple mobile OS, iOS 10, and it has support for Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified). It comes with a Lightning reversible connector and a still unspecified Li-Ion battery that, according to Apple, can fuel the device two hours longer than the one found in the 6s Plus. Since the iPhone 7 Plus does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack, it comes with its own Lightning EarPods earphones and a Lighting-to-headphone jack connector for users who still prefer audio output devices with the universal jack. Finally, Apple’s new phablet comes in five different color variants: Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Black and Jet Black.

Which do you think is the more superior phablet — Apple's iPhone 7 Plus or Samsung's Galaxy Note 7? Sound off in the comments section below.